中国生态文明建设（中英对照）连载之四十七

合理的消费习惯

本书由北京语言大学出版社出版，2014（教学课件光盘版） 作者 蒋高明

4.5.3合理的消费习惯

4.5.3 Rational consumption habit

由于工作关系，我经常到国外出差，先后到过亚洲、非洲、欧洲、北美洲、南美洲的近40个国家。所到之处，使我印象深刻的，是几乎所有国家的旅馆都不提供一次性牙具、一次性拖鞋、一次性梳子和浴帽等，但是在中国，这些东西可是宾馆必不可少的。哪怕最好的五星级酒店，也都会提供。只有在开“两会”^[1]的时候，大会代表们住的宾馆，会停止供应一次性用品。

I have often traveled abroad on business trips and have been to nearly 40 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, North and South America. What impressed me most is that almost all hotels do not provide disposable dental equipment, slippers, shower caps or combs. But in China, these things are essential. Even the best five-star hotels will provide such things. Only during the “two conferences” these disposables are not offered in the hotels accommodating the delegates.

顾名思义，一次性用品是使用一次就要扔掉的东西。听起来，这就是一种很大的资源浪费。更何况，一次性用品要求价格低廉，为了降低成本，大部分都是塑料制品，消耗了化石资源，而且不能降解，造成环境污染。

Disposable goods are for single use only as the term suggests. It is a huge waste of resources. Moreover, disposable supplies are required to be low in price, and therefore, for the purpose of reducing costs, most of disposables are made of plastic products which consume fossil resources and, being not degradable, cause environmental pollution.

人类在地球上生活，所需要的所有物资都来自地球。目前，以资本为主导的消费方式，给地球带来了沉重的负担。地球上的其他物种，也向地球索取，但几乎不会留下垃圾，其自身也会加入生态系统的物质循环中。唯有人类不同。人类制造了过量的、地球无法代谢的垃圾，同时意味着资源浪费与环境污染，而这些都与人类过度的消费行为有关。人类制造的很多产品，丢弃后成为了自然界无法降解的垃圾，甚至连重金属都被释放到环境中去了。要减轻地球的负担，从根本上解决垃圾问题，人类最好重拾工业化前的优良传统——节约，形成合理的、良好的消费习惯。

Living on the earth, people depend on it for all their supplies. Currently, the consumption pattern based by capital spending has become a heavy burden on the planet. Other species on the planet also obtain supplies from the earth, but barely leave any garbage because they themselves will join the circulation of materials in ecosystems. Humans are different. People have produced too much waste to be metabolized. And the waste of resources and environmental pollution is all attributed to people’s excessive consumption. Many human-made products become un-degradable garbage after being abandoned and even heavy metals are released into the environment. To fundamentally alleviate the earth’s burden and solve the garbage problem, humans had better revive the good tradition of pre-industrialization times, i.e., thrift and rational consuming habits.

2008年6月1日，被民间简称为“限塑令”的一项规定——《国务院办公厅关于限制生产销售使用塑料购物袋的通知》在全国正式执行。“限塑令”出台后，过去常见的超薄塑料袋不见了踪影。超薄塑料袋强度差，基本没有二次利用的可能性，就算是一次性使用，也经常要同时使用两个才能保证安全。但是它们不可降解，对土壤结构的破坏很大。除了严禁生产、销售、使用超薄塑料袋，符合国家质量标准的塑料袋，也要求有偿使用。虽然花钱不多，但有偿使用的塑料袋，非常有效地提示了居民：你应该自带购物袋。“限塑令”出台后，自带布袋，或者重复使用塑料袋，渐渐成为了市民的新习惯。

On June 1st, 2008, the Notice of the State Council on Limiting Production and Sales of Plastic Shopping Bags came into effect, later known to the public as the “plastic limit order”. Since this notice was introduced, the ubiquitous ultra-thin plastic bags have disappeared. Being so fragile, they cannot be used for the second time. Sometimes, two bags are used to guarantee safe carriage. But they are un-degradable and will cause great damage to the soil structure. In addition to a ban on the production, sale and use of ultra-thin plastic bags, other types of plastic bags that comply with national quality standards will not be given free any more. The compensation for the use of those inexpensive plastic bags very effectively reminds residents that you should bring you own shopping bags. Since then, carrying one’s own bags or reusable bags have gradually become people’s new habit.

少用塑料袋事情虽小，但对保护生态环境的作用可不小。根据中国连锁经营协会2009年5月20号公布的调查，各类超市中塑料袋使用率平均下降了66%，据估算，每年大概减少使用塑料袋达400亿个！以北京为例，北京市每天产生垃圾近两万吨，其中塑料袋含量占到10%左右。“限塑令”出台后，北京的塑料袋垃圾减少了10%以上，也就是每天减少了200多吨的不可降解垃圾。

Reduced use of plastic bags seems trivial, yet contributes a lot to protection of the environment. According to a survey released by the China Chain Store & Franchise Association on May 20th, 2009, the consumption of all kinds of plastic bags in supermarkets fell by an average rate of 66%, resulting in an estimated reduction of 40 billion plastic bags a year! For example, Beijing produced nearly 20,000 tons of garbage daily, with plastic bags accounting for about 10%. After the order was announced, the garbage of plastic bags fell by more than 10%, which means a reduction of more than 200 tons of un-degradable garbage per day.

其实，减少使用塑料袋只是公众环保行动的一个缩影。环保中的每一件小事都有可能发挥大作用。从尽量重复使用物品，不随意制造垃圾，到不消费一次性物品；从尽量自备餐具外出就餐，到不过度包装产品，不购买过度包装的产品；从节约每一滴水，节约每一度电……中国生态文明建设需要每个人从身边的小事做起。

In fact, reducing the use of plastic bags is just an epitome of public environmental action. Every seemingly insignificant action in environmental protection from the re-use of articles, a conscious decision not to litter waste, to not using disposable items, from bringing your own cutlery when dining out, to refusing to buy overly-packaged products; from saving every drop of water and each watt of electricity... can make a valuable contribution. China’s construction of ecological civilization needs everyone to take such small steps for big results.

 In October 1860, the British